Employee Participation &

Empowerment
 Participation

 Sharing the decision- making power with

the lower ranks of the organization in an
appropriate manner.
 Unique motivational power and a great
psychological value
 Peace and harmony between employee
and employers
 Implications
 Workers have ideas which can be useful
 Upward communication facilitates sound decision
making. Workers may accept decisions much better if
they participate in them
 Workers may work more intelligently if they are informed
about the reasons for and the intention of decisions that
are taken in a participative atmosphere
 Workers may work harder if they share in decisions that
affect them
 Workers participation may foster a more cooperative
attitude amongst workers and management thus raising
efficiency by improving team spirit and reducing the loss
of efficiency arising from industrial dispute
 May act as a spur to managerial efficiency
 Forms of Participation
 Information participation sharing of info. reg.
Economic position, state of market, production and sales
programme, work methods, balance sheet, expansion plans etc.
 Consultative giving chance to workers express their views
concerning work, workplace, working conditions, market standing
etc. Joint council only work together management may or may not
accept
 Associative council not purely advisory. Management under
moral obligation to accept and implement the unanimous decisions
of the council.
 Cont…

 Administrative greater degree of sharing authority and

responsibility of managerial work. Welfare, safety, reward, benefits

 Decisive decisions are taken jointly.

 Committees
 Functions
- consultative
- promote measures for securing and
preserving amity and good relations
 Structure office bearers

 JMCs
 Employee Empowerment Defined…
 Employee Empowerment is Employee
Involvement that matters.
 It could also be defined as controlled transfer of
authority to make decisions and take actions.
 What is needed?
 Successful implementation of empowerment
requires change in corporate culture.
 Does this mean Abdication?
 NO. Empowerment involves actively soliciting
input from those closest to the work and
giving careful thought to that input.
 Rationale

 An aspect of Working
Smart
 Empowerment is the key
to motivation &
Productivity.
 It enables a person to
develop personally &
professionally.
 Theoretical Framework
Relationship of Concepts in Rosabeth Kanter’s (1979) Structural Theory of Power in
Organizations
ACCESS TO JOB WORK
SYSTEMIC POWER PERSONAL IMPACT
RELATED EMPOWERMENT EFFECTIVENESS
FACTORS ON EMPLOYEES
STRUCTURES
Location in formal &
informal systems (Psychological
Empowerment)
Formal Power

Job definition achievement

increased
Discretion (flexible) and successes
autonomy
Recognition (visible)
Relevance (central) decreased
opportunity
influences structures leads to job stress results in respect and
cooperation in
power organization
determines lowered
Informal Power structures
burnout
Connections inside increased
the organization resources satisfaction client
information satisfaction
alliance with: support
sponsors increased
peers commitment
proportions
subordinates
structure
cross functional
groups

Connections outside
the organization
 Formal Power
“...results from jobs that afford flexibility, visibility
and are relevant to key organizational process...”

Informal Power
“...evolves from an individual’s network of
alliances with sponsors, peers and subordinates
both within and outside of the organization...”
 Opportunity
“...includes autonomy, growth, a sense of challenge
and the chance to learn and grow...”

Information
“...the data, technical knowledge and expertise
required to function effectively in one’s
position...”
Support
“...feedback and guidance received from
superiors, peers and subordinates...”

Resources
“...the materials, money, supplies, equipment and time
necessary to accomplish organizational goals...”
 Psychological Empowerment
“…psychological state that employees must experience for
empowerment interventions to be successful…” (Spreitzer, 1995)
 Four components:
meaning - congruence between job requirements and beliefs
competence - confidence in abilities
self-determination - feelings of control over one’s work
impact - sense of being able to influence important outcomes
within the organization

 Associated with manager’s access to strategic information in the

organization and to information on their units’ quality and cost performance
(Spreitzer, 1995).

 Associated with organizational commitment (Spreitzer, 1995; Kramer,

Siebert, & Liden, 1999).

 Strongly related to structural empowerment (Laschinger, et al., 2001)

 Job Satisfaction
 Consistently predicted by autonomy, good
communication with supervisors and peers,
organizational commitment, and job stress (Blegen,
1993, Irvine & Evans, 1995)

 Meta-analysis of 67 studies in general management

literature found job dissatisfaction to be a strong
predictor of turnover behaviour (Griffeth, Hom &
Gaertner, 2000)

 Empowerment has been shown to predict factors

associated with voluntary turnover, in particular, job
satisfaction (Whyte, 1995; Laschinger, Finegan, &
Shamian, 2001)
 Hypothesized Model to be Tested
Meaning Confidence Autonomy Impact
Opportunity

Information

Changes in
Support
Changes in Psychological Changes
Structural Empowerment In Job
Resources Empowerment Satisfaction

Formal Power

Happy to
Informal Power retire here Satisfied
with job

Co-workers Supportive
satisfied environment
 Inhibitors of Empowerment

 Resistance from Employees & Unions

 Resistance from Management
 Insecurity
 Personal Values
 Ego
 Personality Characteristics of Managers
 Exclusion of Managers

 Workforce Readiness
 Organizational Structure & Management
Practices
 Management’s Role in Empowerment &
Implementing Empowerment
 Management’s Role:
 Commitment
 Leadership
 Facilitation
 Implementing Empowerment:
 Development of Suggestion Systems
 Considering the Employees Point of View
 Putting Vehicles in Place
 Brainstorming
 Nominal Group Technique
 Quality Circles
 Suggestion Boxes
 Walking & Talking
 Suggestion Systems - 1
 Management’s Role:
 Establishing Policy
 Setting Up the System
 Promoting the Suggestion System
 Evaluating & Implementing suggestions
 Rewarding employees
 Improving the system..
 Improving Suggestion Processing
 Improving Individual Suggestions
 Problem Identification
 Research
 Idea Development
 Suggestion Systems - 2
 Evaluating Suggestions
 Though Employees make suggestions, final analysis
is still to be made by manager.
 Thus, Establish a formal rating system for evaluating
suggestion systems
 Handling Poor Suggestions
 Listen Carefully
 Express Appreciation
 Carefully explain your position
 Encourage feedback
 Look for Compromise
 Achieving Full Participation
 Removing Hidden Barriers
 Negative Behavior
 Poor Writing Skills
 Fear of Rejection
 Inconvenience
 Encouraging new Employees
 Coaching Reluctant Employees
 Assess
 Investigate
 Match
 Choose
 Manage
 How to Recognize Empowered
Employees
 Taking Initiative

 Identifying Opportunities

 Thinking Critically

 Building Consensus
 Empowerment
 Avoiding Traps:
 Defining Power as Discretion & Self- Reliance
 Failing to Properly Define Empowerment for
Managers & Supervisors
 Assuming Employees Have the skills to be
Empowered
 Getting Impatient Making the Transition from
Traditional Approach
 Beyond Empowerment
 How to Empower
 Demonstrate You Value People.
 Share Leadership Vision .
 Share Goals and Direction.
 Trust People.
 Provide Information for Decision
Making.
 Delegate Authority and Impact
Opportunities, Not Just More Work.
 Provide Frequent Feedback.
•Solve Problems: Don't Pinpoint Problem
People.
•Listen to Learn and Ask Questions to
Provide Guidance.
•Help Employees Feel Rewarded and
Recognized for Empowered Behavior.
 Why empowerment fails
 Managers pay lip service to empowerment,
but do not really believe in its power.
 Managers don’t really understand what
empowerment means.
 Managers fail to establish boundaries for
empowerment.
 Managers have defined the decision making
authority and boundaries with staff, but then
micromanage the work of employees.
 Second guess the decisions of
employees you have given the
authority to make a decision.